How to copy music and other files to the Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones

How to transfer music from your Mac, Windows PC or iTunes to your new Google Pixel or Google Pixel XL phone, as well as copy other files such as photos on and off your Pixel mobile.

If you’ve just bought a shiny new Pixel phone from Google, you might want to copy your music collection over to enjoy on the go. Here’s how to transfer music to your Pixel or Pixel XL mobile, and how to copy other files such as photos from your Pixel to your computer.

How to copy music from your Mac to the Google Pixel or Pixel XL

If you’re a Mac computer or Macbook user, the first thing you’ll need to do is download a handy program called Android File Transfer. Free to download from the Android website, this Mac OS app gives you drag-and-drop convenience for copying files to or from any Android device, including the Pixel and Pixel XL.

Once Android File Transfer is installed on your Mac, grab your Pixel phone and, ensuring that the mobile is on and unlocked, plug it into your Apple computer using the cable that came bundled with the phone. If Android File Transfer doesn’t automatically start up, go to Launchpad or the Applications folder in Finder to manually open it.

When Android File Transfer pops up, you’ll be shown a list of folders on your Pixel or Pixel XL’s internal storage. Look for the Music folder and double-click to open it up.

From here it’s simply a case of dragging and dropping music files from your Mac into the Music folder in the Android File Transfer window, and they’ll automatically be copied across to your Pixel handset.

Once the transfer is complete, just close AFT and you can then disconnect your phone and enjoy your tunes.

How to copy files from your Google Pixel or Pixel XL to your Mac

Copying any files such as photos from your Google Pixel and Pixel XL phone to your Mac involves much the same process as above. Make sure you have Android File Transfer downloaded to your Mac and then plug in your phone, once it’s unlocked. You then just need to drag and drop the files you want to copy off.

If you want to copy photos to your Mac from your Pixel phone, head to the DCIM folder. All of your snaps as well as home movies should be in there.

How to copy music from Windows to the Google Pixel or Pixel XL

Thankfully you don’t need any additional software to copy music from your Windows laptop or PC to your Google Pixel or Pixel XL smartphone.

First connect your Pixel to your PC or laptop using the bundled USB cable. Make sure that your phone is unlocked so the computer can access its files, and check that the connection type is listed as media or file transfer in the notifications menu. If not, give this a tap to change.

Next, open a Windows Explorer window on your machine. To do this, hit the Windows key and ‘E’ at the same time.

Click on ‘My Computer’ (or ‘This PC’ depending on which version of Windows you’re using) and head to the ‘Devices and Drives’ section – this is where your Pixel phone should appear.

Once your Pixel pops up, double-click the icon to open it up and look for a folder called Music. Find the music files you want to transfer over to your handset and then simply drag and drop them into the Pixel’s Music folder window.

Job done.

How to copy files from your Google Pixel or Pixel XL to your Windows computer

The process for copying files such as your photos and movies from the Pixel to your Windows PC is much the same as copying music to your phone from a PC (see above).

Again, connect the Pixel to your PC with the bundled cable, first making sure that the mobile is unlocked. Then check that the connection method is set to media or file transfer.

With that done, open a Windows Explorer window (the keyboard shortcut is Windows Key + E) and click on ‘My Computer’ or ‘This PC’, then head to ‘Devices and Drives’. You should see your phone listed here.

Double-click that icon to open your phone’s folders list. The DCIM folder contains your photos and home movies, so open that and drag and drop your files to a directory in your computer to copy them off.

How to copy music from iTunes to the Google Pixel or Pixel XL

If you want to copy your iTunes music across to your Pixel phone from your Mac or Windows PC, you can use the drag and drop methods detailed above (assuming your songs are already stored locally on your computer, otherwise you’ll need to download them first). Simply find the relevant music folders within the iTunes directory on your machine and drag your chosen tunes over to your Pixel phone.